Most warehouses, storage facilities, manufacturing plants, and other industrial buildings generally are large metal and concrete buildings which have a large inside working area. Such buildings typically are not air conditioned, as the doors of these buildings are frequently opened to permit access for the shipment and receipt of goods, and therefore it is simply too expensive to air condition the entire building. Consequently, such buildings generally have limited or poor ventilation without the dock doors open and can become very uncomfortable, especially in warmer climates and during the warmer summer months of the year, due to this lack of ventilation. As a result, these buildings can become unbearably hot, creating conditions that are almost unbearable for workers.
The most obvious solution to this problem has simply been to keep the loading dock doors open so that fans inside the warehouse can draw a flow of air into and through the warehouse. The problem with leaving the doors open is, however, that insects, birds, and other pests can fly or crawl into the warehouse through the open doors. Such an infestation of insects violates county or city health ordinances and regulations, which often require that the warehouse doors be kept closed for insect control and sanitary reasons. Additionally, with the doors left open, there is greater potential for pilferage by people outside the warehouse and by employees. As a result, it is generally necessary to keep the loading dock doors of warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and other similar buildings closed to cut off access through the warehouse doors to keep insect infestation down and to reduce the incidence of pilferage. With the doors shut, the airflow through the warehouse also is shut off, reducing the ventilation inside the warehouse.
Attempts have been made to develop hanging curtains that temporarily or partially close off the dock doors of a warehouse. Such curtains typically are not, however, lockable so as to securely close or seal the doorway, and if these curtains do seal the doorway, they generally are not easy to open and close. Thus, the use of these curtains can limit or reduce access to the warehouse.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a means for enclosing the dock door openings of warehouses, manufacturing plants, and similar industrial buildings to prevent access to the warehouse through the dock door opening by insects, birds, and by people to control insect infestation and reduce the potential of pilferage, but which enables a flow of air to be drawn through the dock door opening to ensure adequate ventilation in the warehouse and which is easy to open and securely close.